Getting back into the swing of things and some new year thoughts

Hello and happy new year! I'm sorry it's a bit belated but I've had good reason.
Firstly, something happened that should have happened a long time ago but didn't as I hadn't quite come to terms with it. 5 years or so ago I had a bit of an altercation with a tractor in my Peugeot 206 and let's just say it wasn't pretty. Much like a shattered mirror, they did their best to piece together my shattered ankle but unfortunately as my consultant said 'the dice was rolled'. It was liveable for a while, I say liveable, any shoot or exertion put me out for 3 days and I had to learn to live life very differently. But the pain came to a head last year and the limp started to affect my back and other joints so something needed to be done. Ankle fusion is where they fix an ankle joint so it no longer works, thus any pain in the joint is eliminated. It doesn't come with it's downsides as smaller joints take over and wear out much faster but I'm hoping it will be a fair few years before I have to get over that hurdle.

So for the time being, I'm recuperating and looking to the future, looking forward to doing things I haven't been able to for a long time - walks on the downs, travelling, maybe getting a little doggy, being able to see friends the days after shooting a wedding, getting up and down stairs without pain etc etc!

Wedding photography by Brighton Photographer Emma Lucy

Wedding photography by Brighton Photographer Emma Lucy

I plan to write a big old post about the experience soon for anyone who might be considering a fusion and how to make your life as easy as possible. I'm on crutches for three months, it's not easy and frustrating not really being able to shoot on location but I'm slowly finding ways to shoot at home and the big plus is it's forcing me to find the magic light in the new house - I find it always takes a while to figure out how to use the light in a new place! But as you can see from the below shot from a little collaboration with me and Giant Origami last week the light is perfect and I can't wait to shoot more in it. (more from that shoot in the coming weeks)

Photography by Brighton and London photographer Emma Gutteridge

Christmas and new year was fairly uneventful, I've had people staying solidly but each has bought a different bug with them and so it's been quiet for all of us. The worst was I was completely off cheese, wine and chocolate - worst Christmas nightmare! But the down time has given me a little bit of time to reflect on this blog and what I want from it, what's sustainable for me and what I want readers to get from it - though it's a new blog the feedback has been brilliant so I'm full of ideas and ready to get stuck in.

I want everything on this blog to be attainable - from the recipes to the interiors. We lead increasingly busy lives and the pressure is on us like never before. In the run up to me moving house I spent hours on Pinterest obsessing over how to style corners and rooms - but one visit from my 6 year old niece showed me that it isn't about things placed perfectly, it's about creating somewhere that works for you. I've since made some changes to the house and I'm actually much happier with it - it may not look like perfect Pinterest fodder but it's my home, where I live and where I want to be. So, I'm going to be sharing some realness - it won't be white, clean or piles of expensive blankets placed neatly in thoroughfares, because who manages to keep them there for long with friends, family, pets, visitors and kids?!

The recipes will be simple, quick to make and I want to tell you WHY you should be making them too, what they can do for you. I've got proper nutrition training under my belt (3 arduous years!) and I want to be bringing this to the table (see what I did there?!).

Retreat // Food and lifestyle blog

And on that note I want to talk about January diets - the minute Christmas is over adverts pop up everywhere of brands promoting their 'healthy' product. Please remember that low calorie/low fat is not healthy! In fact, usually they're far from it. I've struggled with my weight all of my life and my BMI is not where it should be, yet in a recent visit to the hospital a nurse insisted on taking my blood pressure three times as she couldn't believe how perfect it was. This really angered me, we can't be healthy if we're not thin? If you want to aim for anything for your new years resolutions forget the diet and instead focus on nurturing yourself - is what you're eating REALLY healthy? Healthy to me is:

making food from fresh ingredients

using well produced ingredients

being mindful of what your diet might be lacking or overflowing in (are you getting enough protein? Are you eating too many simple sugars?)

improve your relationship with food (I fully believe that if you have a good idea of how your food was produced you enjoy spending time cooking with it)

Finally, I want to try and endorse some time for us - do endless minimilistic photos accompanied by meaningful quotes really enrich us? Do we really need to know everything that has happened on Twitter all day? Does that email really have to be replied to now, at 10am on a Sunday? Let's make some time for us - even if it's just time with a book or a walk in the countryside. Or we could be really reckless and build on our relationships in PERSON. What a novel thought! Living a little bit slower in the time we can grasp from our busy lives and enriching it. I do hope you'll join me in 2015 and if I can just inspire 5 people this year I'll be a happy girl.